Desiring a Job Well Done Drives Technician’s Skill

Located in a community where many a clock radio alarm is set to the salsa-meringue beat and shots of espresso finish off the vestiges of a groggy slumber, Luis Montalvo, RTP, begins his daily routine. Montalvo, owner, manager, and operator of Luis Proshetics Fabrication in North Miami Beach, Florida, is a good example of the skilled, conscientious technicians that help enhance prosthetic outcomes for amputees. As his day gets underway, Montalvo checks his home office telephone answering and fax machines for work and purchase orders and other concerns. He organizes priorities into a daily schedule for himself and the employees of his ten-year-old family business. His help and support includes his wife of 31 years, Lilly; his youngest daughter, Stacey; and her beau, Salvador "Santos" Mendoza. When business goes into overdrive, he can count on his other two children, Luis Jr. and Linda, for additional help. Usually he works about ten hours a day, but, depending on demand, he is no stranger to working into the wee morning hours and on weekends. Montalvo started work in 1982 in the shipping and receiving department in Miami's Jackson Memorial Hospital before discovering his niche in prosthetic fabrication. "I got to know the orthotic and prosthetic department employees. I became very interested in what I heard and saw there, so I transferred to that department when a vacancy opened up. It changed my mind as to what I thought it was all about. I looked past the negative part of limb loss and started to notice how cool it was to see someone get back up on their feet and walk again." Montalvo decided to start his business fulltime after spending 15 years at Jackson Memorial. He laid the groundwork during his years there by establishing professional memberships with several state and national prosthetic and orthotic organizations. Information Needed for Optimal Socket As his day continues, Montalvo begins fabrication per work orders. He may need additional information from the prosthetist. Sometimes he receives nothing more than the cast of a residual limb and the name of the company that sent it, so it is up to him to find out what specifically needs to be done: A check socket? A conventional definitive prosthetic socket and liner? Suction, below-knee definitive socket? What? "I'd like to know the activity level of the patient before I begin a job," Montalvo says. "Is the patient sedentary? Is he community ambulatory? Is the prosthesis for a more active lifestyle or for an extreme user? I need that information from the prosthetist so I can match the fabrication of the socket to the patients needs." A skilled prosthetic technician like Montalvo will do his best to determine the combination and quantity of fabrics and which resin and how much are needed to make the optimal socket. Other Interesting Aspects Montalvo particularly enjoys requests for laminating decals and other designs into the socket's fabrication. "Once someone requested a butterfly design laminated here and there into the leg. Another request was for a child who wanted a Spiderman-designed leg. I get a kick out of making them. It gives me an idea about the persons attitude and motivation. I wish I saw a lot more of that." Other projects are more involved. For example, a prosthetist may do some of the work onsite and then contract the finishing work to Montalvo. The job may require Montalvo to transfer the alignment worked out between the prosthetist and client during walking trials and to finish the prosthesis with an attractive, featherweight cosmetic covering. "It is ideal to have pictures of the sound limb to make a really lifelike cosmetic finish, but it is sufficient when the prosthetist sends me measurements of key areas of the unaffected limb," he says. Looks Good and Is Good It is important that a prosthesis looks good. First impressions are made from outward appearances, but quality components and craftsmanship further define a job well done. "If the prosthetist has to remove the cover in front of the patient to make a small adjustment, I want them to see clean workmanship and nothing sloppy," Montalvo says. Advancing with Technical Progress Montalvo has seen the extent and scope of technical progress over the past 25 years and has grown and moved with it. Such experience, knowledge, instinct, and intuition has led him to meet and overcome many technical obstacles - small and not so small - through craftsmanship. "I try to make the best leg I can all the time," he says. "I like to be able to go to sleep knowing that what I did was good, and that I didn't take any shortcuts. When the leg is delivered, everybody is satisfied." Gordon Zernich is employed at the Veteran Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Miami, Florida. He has recently satisfied the Board for Orthotist/Prosthetist Certification (BOC) requirements for certification and will receive credentialing shortly.

Desiring a Job Well Done Drives Technician’s Skill

Kim Doolan Detours to Success

Bringing Help and Hope to Guatemala

DMERC Conducts Diabetic Shoes/Inserts Probe Review

O&P JOBS

Certified Prosthetist / Prosthetist-Orthotist (CP/CPO) Gates Prosthetics + Mobility Clinic — Mountain Home, AR

Clinic Manager – Certified Prosthetist Orthotist (CPO) – Rogers, AR

CPO

Get unlimited access!

EDGE DIRECT

Welcome Back!

Retrieve your password

Not enough quota to unlock this post

Desiring a Job Well Done Drives Technician’s Skill

Support authors and subscribe to content.

Subscribe

Related posts:

Kim Doolan Detours to Success

Bringing Help and Hope to Guatemala

DMERC Conducts Diabetic Shoes/Inserts Probe Review

O&P JOBS

Certified Prosthetist / Prosthetist-Orthotist (CP/CPO) Gates Prosthetics + Mobility Clinic — Mountain Home, AR

Clinic Manager – Certified Prosthetist Orthotist (CPO) – Rogers, AR

CPO

Get unlimited access!

EDGE DIRECT

Welcome Back!

Retrieve your password

Not enough quota to unlock this post